Profit Players: Moussa Sissoko

Tottenham supporters have been pretty satisfied in recent times after seeing their side get back to winning ways in the Premier League on New Year’s Day.

Mauricio Pochettino’s men went into their encounter with lowly Cardiff City off the back of losing 3-1 to Wolves in their preceding league clash, and thus seeking to bounce back in South Wales with the victory that would take them above Manchester City into second place. And the North Londoners did just that as goals from Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen, and Son Heung-min all before half time sealed a routine 3-0 success for Pochettino’s side, thus moving them into second place and to within six points of leaders Liverpool.

Thus, there have been many delighted Tottenham fans up and down the country in recent times, with midfielder Moussa Sissoko coming in for much praise from several supporters given his quite remarkable resurgence in form this season.

The Frenchman was lured to North London by Pochettino back in the summer of 2016 for £31.5 million (as per Transfermarkt) in what many thought was something of a dubious call from the Argentine, what with the 29-year-old hardly excelling during his time at Newcastle United.

And things looked to be heading that way at Spurs up until the last six months or so, with it now looking like Tottenham are very much reaping the rewards from Pochettino’s bold decision to land the France international back in 2016.

Ultimately, Sissoko enjoyed three years at Newcastle prior to making the move to Spurs two-and-a-half years ago, although the final stages of his time at St James’ Park were certainly nothing to write home about – he scored only once in the 2015/16 season for the Magpies.

A fine European Championships campaign with France that summer did seemingly open the eyes of Pochettino though as he somewhat surprisingly splashed out £31.5 million on the midfielder in 2016 – money that, up until recently, looked like a huge waste.

And that’s because the 29-year-old failed to make a meaningful impact in his first two seasons in North London in failing to nail down a place in Pochettino’s starting eleven and then struggling to have an influence when called upon – in fact, it looked for all the world that he’d would leave the club last summer.

Yet he has since become an integral member of the squad at Spurs with 22 appearances in all competitions so far this term and starts in 13 of their last 14 Premier League matches, with the Frenchman arguably now one of the first names on the teamsheet such has been his level of performance in the midfield area.

And with the likes of Mousa Dembele, Victor Wanyama, and Eric Dier all missing at various stages of the campaign, Pochettino needed Sissoko to really step up and prove his £31.5 million price-tag – he has certainly done that in recent months.

Thus, while it was looking for all the world like money that wasn’t very well spent by the Tottenham manager, his dubious decision to lure Sissoko to North London is looking better and better by the day, with his side very much reaping the rewards from his bold call back in 2016.